Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Buys 4,300 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,600 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,300 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.'s holdings in Paychex were worth $8,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at $406,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Paychex by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 615 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp increased its stake in Paychex by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 13,681 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,111,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,331 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at $222,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,878,940.89. The trade was a 17.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total value of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. This represents a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on PAYX shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 27th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.20.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $143.29. The company had a trading volume of 1,834,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,976,717. The company's 50 day moving average price is $151.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $148.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $51.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex, Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.33 and a 52-week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a return on equity of 45.01%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 94.53%.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.